The anti-Zionist Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel has grown faster than any other community in New York state from 2000 through 2006, according to census data released on Monday - and reported by the Patriot News.

Kiryas Joel, near Monroe, NY, was founded by the Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, in 1977. At that time, 14 families of his followers moved into the new town. Now it is home to over 3,000 families.

Kiryas Joel grew by 51%, to 20,071 residents from 13,273, over the six-year period. The village has the youngest median age (15.0) of any population center of over 5,000 residents in the United States.

The Census Bureau provided population estimates for 615 incorporated places in New York state; The New York Times calculated the rate of growth for each community from 2000 through 2006.

Generally, the communities that grew the most during that period were small villages. After Kiryas Joel, the next fastest-growing community was New Square, another anti-Zionist Hasidic community.

In absolute terms, NYC had the largest growth of any community in the state, gaining 196,076 residents, or 2%, between 2000 and 2006, but in raw terms, Kiryas Joel, with a gain of 6,798 residents, was second to NYC in growth. New Square had a gain of 2,228 residents.